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Billy Eichner uses 'Street' smarts to recruit stars

Billy on the Street returns Wednesday for a 10-episode third season on Fuse (11 p.m. ET/PT), as comedian Billy Eichner chases down (and mock-impatiently yells at unsuspecting New Yorkers for his pop-culture

Billy on the Street returns Wednesday for a 10-episode third season on Fuse (11 p.m. ET/PT), as comedian Billy Eichner chases down (and mock-impatiently yells at) unsuspecting New Yorkers for his pop-culture-themed comedy game show. What started as a series of YouTube videos morphed, thanks to Funny or Die, into a TV series in which contestants get "Quizzed in the Face" for odd prizes or asked ridiculously subjective questions "For a Dollar." (Sample: Which is scarier, a serial killer on the loose or an adult who watches Once Upon a Time?) This year, he drags in Amy Poehler, Lena Dunham, Neil Patrick Harris, Lindsay Lohan and Paul Rudd, among others, to help out.

Q: How did you get celebrities to play along with you?

A: There's a dedicated following and a lot of love in the comedy community. Actors really love this show. It's about showbiz, it's about pop-culture obsession. This is not a typical talk-show appearance. No one comes on the show because they're promoting something. They want to see how other people react to them or what I'll make them do. It shows them being self-aware.

Q: What's the strangest game you wanted to do but never aired?

A: I did a "For a Dollar" game where we asked people to read the Law & Order opening ("in the criminal justice system …"). It was more weird than funny. As funny as something is on paper, you really don't know until you get out there whether it's going to land.

A: Awards shows — a live show with famous people in a high-pressure situation, and people in the audience pretending to be happy but not being happy. There's a lot happening, and they can't control it. There's something about the shows — even when they're bad, they're incredibly watchable. (And with Twitter), even when you're watching it by yourself, you feel like you're watching it with thousands of people. That's fun and strange and cool.

Q: What did you think of the Oscars?

A: They were solid. They're never perfect, but they certainly could have been much worse. I'm gay, so if you're giving me Pink singing Over the Rainbow, Bette Midler and Liza Minnelli, I'm going to be OK with it.

Q: What were your favorite movies last year?

A: Her would be up there. I also liked Inside Llewyn Davis. It's not for everybody, but neither am I. I just liked the (exploration of the) nature of who gets successful and who doesn't; how random life is and how unfair it is. As someone who did struggle for 10 years doing exactly what I'm doing now, I could relate to it.

Q: Do people who see you ask you to scream at them?

A: I get that a lot. It's such a bizarre phenomenon that someone wants me to get angry at them. They're surprised, and even disappointed, to find out that I'm not that guy all the time.